9 Healthy Thanksgiving Desserts

The turkey, sweet potatoes, stuffing, and green beans have all been devoured, and everyone's sitting back and declaring that they can't eat another bite. But there's always room for dessert! While the traditional top-offs to the Thanksgiving feast — apple, pumpkin, and pecan pies, layer cakes — are undeniably delicious, they're also notorious calorie bombs. To complete your festive Thanksgiving meal, we've gathered together nine terrific recipes that cut back on the fat and sugar without sacrificing flavor. Many also take advantage of fresh seasonal fruits.

Gingered Cranberry-Pear Cobbler

What's Thanksgiving without cranberries? These gorgeous deep-red beauties are high in vitamin C, fiber, and antioxidants. Although they're too tart to be eaten on their own, cranberries blend beautifully with other fruits such as the pears used here. Lemons and fresh ginger add an extra zing to the filling of this delicious cobbler, topped off with a homey biscuit-dough crust.

Cranberry-Apple Coffee Cake

Thanksgiving's favorite fruit also co-stars in this moist, delicious cake — the perfect pairing for that after-dinner cup of java. Choose tart apples such as Granny Smiths or Pippins for this heart-healthy recipe. A slice has just 257 calories and 8 grams of fat.

Oatmeal-Nut Crunch Apple Pie

Packed with juicy apples, this skinnier version of an American classic is capped off with a rolled oat-walnut topping that's reminiscent of streusel. Don't stress if you're too short on time to prepare the crust from scratch — you can also use a ready-made whole-wheat version from the grocery store. One slice has 4 grams of fiber, or about a fifth of your recommended daily intake.

Apple-Pecan Upside-Down Cake

Turn your dessert course upside down with this cake that’s high in fiber (thanks to unpeeled apple slices) and crunchy, antioxidant-rich pecans, making it a great lower-calorie substitute for pecan pie. For even more calorie savings, you can swap the sugar with a no-calorie brown sugar substitute.

Pumpkin-Maple Pie

Pumpkin pie is a certified Thanksgiving classic, but traditional recipes are loaded with fat and calories. This version takes advantage of the natural sweetness of maple syrup and adds fat-free evaporated milk for richness — at just 216 calories and 6 grams of fat per serving. By comparison, a typical pumpkin pie slice has about 316 calories and a whopping 14 grams of fat.

Country Pear Tart

Juicy, sweet pears are at their best in the fall and winter. This tart takes advantage of their flavor, with the addition of dried cherries, a touch of cinnamon, and a bit of brandy — or, if you prefer, apple juice. Each slice has only 185 calories, and the whole-wheat pastry flour adds some extra fiber.

Double-Chocolate Brownies

For some people, it just isn't dessert unless it's chocolate. Satisfy the chocoholics at your Thanksgiving table with these rich-tasting yet surprisingly light brownies. The secret is using fat-free cocoa powder and semisweet miniature chocolate chips.

Glazed Chocolate-Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Fat-free buttermilk and pumpkin puree make this delectable cake moist and delicious — and a touch of pumpkin pie spice adds a depth of flavor. The pumpkin also serves as an alternative to shortening or oil, cutting out much of the fat.

Pomegranate Poached Pears

High in vitamin C, potassium, and antioxidants, pomegranates have been called a true superfood — and they're delicious to boot. In this recipe, pomegranate juice and sweet wine are used as a poaching liquid to color and flavor Bosc pears, producing a richly colored, gorgeous dessert. Top with a garnish of low-fat yogurt or sour cream, pomegranate seeds, and almonds.

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